While the videos of Texas Longhorns’ fans booing Arch Manning are excellent social media fodder, realize sportsbooks are not wavering on their opinions of Texas.
The Longhorns continue to sit at +700 in the National Championship odds, just as they were before Manning’s seeming struggles against UTEP on Saturday.
However, they've been surpassed by the Oregon Ducks, who joined Ohio State, Georgia, Penn State, and Texas in the top tier of national championship contenders after Week 3.
Latest College Football National Championship Odds: Oh hello, Oregon
As last weekend ended, the Oregon Ducks sat at +1100 to win the National Championship, not only behind our top tier of four teams, but also behind LSU at +1000. After thumping Northwestern on Saturday, suddenly the Ducks are at +650, right with Penn State to win the title.
Assuredly, beating Northwestern 34-14 is not that impressive, right? Right.
But this is now three games where junior quarterback Dante Moore has looked like the kind of passer that could win a tight game. He has now thrown six touchdowns with just one interception while completing 77.3% of his passes.
No, the opponents have not been stout. Life will assuredly get harder than Moore’s current 10.9 yards per attempt average suggests. But these rates have now been sustained long enough to warrant some faith.
Oregon entered the season with a clearly talented roster, but it lacked proven experience at many positions. Proving a talent at quarterback answers many of those questions.
The Ducks’ schedule helps this thought. Aside from a trip to Penn State in two weeks, Oregon can probably coast through this regular season.
Factor that into every team’s national championship odds. Effectively, title odds start with the question, “What are the odds this team finishes the regular season no worse than 10-2?”
From there, the roster’s talent and experience factors in. Oregon excels in two of those categories, and Moore’s emergence starts to lend some thoughts to experience.
Latest National Championship favorites
- Ohio State +600
- Georgia +650
- Penn State +650
- Oregon +650
- Texas +750
- LSU +1100
- Alabama +1500
- Miami +1800
- Oklahoma +2500
- Texas A&M +2500
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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